James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Closest Pair of Supermassive Black Holes in Merging Galaxy

Astronomers utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified a pair of supermassive black holes, designated LID-1166, located approximately 4,900 light-years apart within a galaxy undergoing a merger. This observation, made when the Universe was about 1.3 billion years old, offers a rare opportunity to study the growth of supermassive black holes in the early cosmos. The JWST's NIRSpec instrument allowed researchers to distinguish both active black holes, which are accumulating matter, suggesting that galactic mergers may accelerate their rapid growth after the Big Bang.